MOSCOW. Feb 5 (Interfax) - Israeli Ambassador in Moscow Simona Halperin has been summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the ministry said on Monday.
"Halperin will be summoned to the Foreign Ministry in connection with the unacceptable public comments by the Israeli ambassador which distort Russia's foreign policy approach and historical realities," the ministry told reporters.
A number of statements by the Israeli diplomat "are an extremely unsuccessful start to a diplomatic mission, which should aim to develop bilateral relations in the interests of people in both countries," the ministry said.
Halperin commented on Russia's contacts with Hamas in an interview published by the newspaper Kommersant on Sunday. "Russia says the negotiations aim to free the hostages. But the hostages have been held for almost four months now and have yet to be released," she said.
"We are very concerned about the situation in our region in general, as Iran is inciting Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, who interfere with freedom of navigation in the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, undermine the stability of world trade, and cause a rise in prices," Halperin said. "Meanwhile, we have not heard a word of condemnation from Russia at the UN Security Council," she said.
When commenting on the Holocaust, Halperin said, "I do not quite understand why Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov downplays the significance of this terrible event."
"Many nations suffered heavy losses, the Russian people sacrificed millions of lives for a victory over the Nazis, and we remember that. But never before in history has the world known such a massive and systematic extermination of people solely on ethnic grounds. Only the Jewish people has been through that," Halperin said.
Halperin regretted that "International Holocaust Remembrance Day has not officially appeared in the Russian state calendar." "I will discuss this with my Russian colleagues," she said.
In turn, the Russian Foreign Ministry "expressed particular indignation at the Israeli ambassador's disrespectful comments on the efforts undertaken by Russia in its contacts aimed at facilitating the resolution of the hostage problem."
"The idea that the Holocaust involved the extermination of exclusively Jewish people contravenes the UN General Assembly resolution," the ministry said.
"Reflections on the need for changes in what Halperin called the Russian 'state calendar' border on interference in internal affairs," the ministry said.